Everything to Know About the WNBA's Expansion: Where Are the New Teams?
The WNBA will feature 18 teams by 2030, so let's take a look at the new arrivals.
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is expanding again. This week the league announced three more teams will join its ranks by 2030, adding to a new team that just debuted in 2025 and two more than were already announced.
That means that by the end of the decade, the WNBA will hit an unprecedented 18 teams total, up from 12 during its 2024 season and 13 during the 2025 season. So, where will these teams show up, and when will they arrive? With the WNBA coming to NBC next season, let's take a closer look.
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Where are the new WNBA teams located?
In a press release on Monday, the WNBA revealed that three new teams will be added to the league in Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; all three of which already have storied NBA teams. No team names or coaching staff decisions were announced along with the expansion teams.
The Cleveland WNBA club will arrive first, hitting the league for the 2028 season, while the Detroit team will arrive the following year, in 2029. Finally, Philadelphia's WNBA team will hit the league in 2030, bringing the grand total of women's pro basketball teams in the league up to 18.
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With the addition of the Golden State Valkyries in the 2025 season, the WNBA now has 13 active teams, so how do we arrive at 18 by 2030? Because the league previously announced two more expansions coming in 2026. Next year, the league will get new teams in Toronto, Canada and Portland, Oregon, bringing the total to 15 ahead of the three-team expansion just announced this week. It's all thanks to the tremendous expansion of interest in women's basketball fueled by a new generation of WNBA stars including Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, and many more.
“The demand for women’s basketball has never been higher, and we are thrilled to welcome Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia to the WNBA family,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. “This historic expansion is a powerful reflection of our league’s extraordinary momentum, the depth of talent across the game, and the surging demand for investment in women’s professional basketball."
When will the WNBA arrive on NBC?
The WNBA comes to the NBC family beginning in the spring of 2026, with at least 50 games arriving on USA Network, Peacock, and NBC throughout the season, as well as the 2026 WNBA Finals. For more WNBA news, head to NBC Sports.
